Current News

​Vermont Business Magazine Berkshire Bank has announced programs to provide additional financial flexibility to customers who may face financial hardship due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus. Berkshire Bank has branches in southwestern Vermont. Effective Wednesday, March 18th for an initial 30-day period, Berkshire Bank is offering financial assistance to all of its customers.

Vermont Business Magazine As a direct result of Executive Order 01-20 that Governor Phil Scott signed on Friday, the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is supporting the state’s mitigation efforts by urging Vermonters to renew registrations online and renew licenses by mail to reduce the risk and spread of COVID-19 infection.

Vermont Business Magazine Responding to shelves empty of hand sanitizer in local grocers, pharmacies, big-box stores and online as the novel coronavirus crisis overwhelms Vermonters, co-owners Jeremy and Ron Elliott are using the unique resources of their distillery to help meet the shortage. With the help of an amazing staff, priorities at Smugglers’ Notch Distillery flipped overnight from crafting spirits to producing hand sanitizer.

Vermont Business Magazine School for International Training and its parent organization, World Learning, Inc., have announced safety measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective Monday, March 16, faculty and staff based in the organization's headquarters in Brattleboro, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., have been instructed to work from home. Nearly 150 World Learning and SIT staff members work on the Vermont campus.

Vermont Business Magazine During these unprecedented times, people, businesses and governments throughout the world are modifying their operations as a novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has spread around the globe. In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott declared a state of emergency Friday, enacting steps to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and to protect the most vulnerable.

The Vermont State Police, like law-enforcement agencies nationwide, has planned for this situation and is taking precautions. Commanders have directed members of the state police to make certain modifications to their operations to protect both the workforce and the public.

Vermont Business Magazine As of Monday evening, March 16th, all Secretary of State division buildings are temporarily closed to the public, including 128 State Street in Montpelier, which houses Corporations and Business Services, Elections, Municipal Assistance, Admin, and IT, the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) located at 89 Main Street, 3rd Floor in Montpelier, and the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (VSARA), located at 1078 US Route 2 in Middlesex.

Vermont State Police Members of the Vermont State Police are investigating a shooting incident at a home on Vermont Route 14 in the town of Royalton that left one man dead and another injured. Troopers were called to respond to an altercation occurring at the home on Route 14 at about 2:45 a.m. Tuesday, March 17, 2020. Reports were received soon after that of gunshots. Upon arrival troopers located one man who was deceased and another man both suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. The injured man was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and is currently in surgery.

Vermont Business Magazine Visitors to the White River Junction Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center will notice several changes on campus as the facility intensifies its COVID-19 response efforts. Beginning March 17th, all individuals arriving on campus will be screened in their vehicles. Visitors to the Community Based Outpatient Clinics in Bennington and Rutland will also be screened prior to exiting their vehicle.

Vermont Business Magazine The UVM Medical Center has partnered with the Champlain Valley Exposition on an initiative to safely and efficiently test patients whose physicians believe they may have the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. A pop-up testing site will be operated for 4 hours per weekday on the exposition grounds. This is being made possible through UVM HealthNet’s Community Paramedic Program, which aims to decrease visits to the Emergency Department. It is also supported by the UVM Medical Center Emergency Department.

Vermont Business Magazine Closing time used to have a different meaning before we'd ever heard of the novel coronavirus. Now it means just plain closed. Governor Phil Scott Monday afternoon added to his executive order from last Friday and has ordered all bars and restaurants closed across the state starting at 2 pm, March 17, St Patrick's Day. The irony was lost on no one.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger announced that all bars are ordered to close and in-person dining to cease for at least 24 hours starting at 6 am tomorrow (Governor Scott subsequently extended that order to the entire state and until April 6); the city also is suspending disconnections of municipal utility services until further notice and working to put together a broad relief package; and the city also will close or restrict access to all city buildings and curtail many non-essential city services starting Wednesday, including closing the library.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Department of Labor announced the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for January was 2.4 percent. According to household data, this reflects no change from the revised December rate. The preliminary data released in January showed a labor force participation rate of 65.6 percent which is the lowest statewide level since September 1977. All three major metrics were slightly worse than last month, as the labor force and number of employed were down and the number of unemployed increased. Vermont, which has had the lowest rate in the nation, is now tied for second with South Carolina. North Dakota is number one at 2.3 percent. Alaska is highest at 6.0 percent. The comparable United States rate in January was 3.6 percent, up 0.1 of a percentage point from the revised December estimate.